West’s distribution is 4=3=5=1, and, therefore, East is 4=4=1=4. The chain of reasoning begins with the diamond information, marking West, the opening bidder, with five. What about hearts, the suit East–West bid and raised? Unless East psyched a 1♥ response, East has four hearts, leaving West with three. (If they played support doubles, you could diagnose an East psych on a three-card suit.)
So far, the information has come easily. Now comes a key negative inference — what about spades? East–West have an eight-card spade fit, yet neither mentioned the suit. Surely someone would have bid a five-bagger, so the only logical explanation is that their spades are divided 4–4. It’s the classic case of the dog that didn’t bark spades.
Once we fit the spade piece to the puzzle, the club situation becomes clear. Holding 12 cards in the top-ranked suits, West must have been dealt a singleton club. You should win East’s heart return and play the ♣J to dummy’s king. If the queen doesn’t drop, continue with the ♣8, finessing through East. Once you pick up East’s original club holding of Q–x–x–x, use dummy’s ♠K entry to cash the ♦Q, discarding a heart loser. When the dust settles, you have made your contract, losing two diamonds, a ruff, and one heart.
